Someday My Prince Will Come
| label = Walt Disney | composer = Frank Churchill | lyricist = Larry Morey | producer = }} "Someday My Prince Will Come" is a song from Walt Disney's 1937 animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was written by Larry Morey (lyrics) & Frank Churchill (music), and performed by Adriana Caselotti (Snow White's voice in the movie). It was also featured in the 1979 stage adaptation of the 1937 animated musical movie. In AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs, it was ranked the 19th greatest film song of all time. Production Conception Adriana Caselotti was cast in the 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs after interrupting a phone conversation her father – a voice coach – was having on the phone with a Walt Disney talent scout. The scout was casting the upcoming film and noted that a previous candidate had sounded like a 30 year old so was let go; Caselotti picked up the extension and recommended herself. Only 18 at the time, Disney thought she sounded like a 14-year-old which is what he wanted and offered her the part. She worked on the film for a nominal fee for three years while the film was in production. Composition Meanwhile, Frank Churchill was chosen as the film's composer, who was instructed by Walt Disney to write something "quaint" in order to “appeal more than the hot stuff". The song sees Caselotti perform with "piercing top notes" and "mushy vibrato". The chord structure that underpins the melody has an atypical quality, that led it to become popular within jazz circles. A long-time partner of Disney, after hearing that his work on Bambi was monotonous and uninteresting, he died at a piano from a gunshot wound in 1942. Context This song first appears 57:40 into the movie, when Princess Snow White sings a bedtime song for the dwarfs after their small party. It later appears when Snow White is making a pie and once more in a more formal version when the prince takes Snow White away at the end. Release Aftermath After the film's release, the song became popular outside the context of the narrative as a jazz standard. The first performance was within the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1943, played by band known as the Ghetto Swingers. After World War II, it was performed by jazz musicians such as Dave Brubeck, who included it on his 1957 album Dave Digs Disney. Another popular recording came from Miles Davis in 1961, who named his album after it. Critical reception The Financial Times wrote that the song "spelt out the tantalising promise of love and nurture". Legacy The American Film Institute listed this song at No. 19 on their list of the 100 greatest songs in movie history. Following "When You Wish Upon A Star" from Pinocchio at No. 7, this is the second highest ranked song from a Disney movie out of four, with the other two being "Beauty and the Beast" from Beauty and the Beast at No. 62 and "Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King at No. 99. The song was then briefly sung on the 1971 sitcom All in the Family by Edith Bunker in the episode "Archie's Weighty Problem". Selected covers Jazz covers * Dave Brubeck – Dave Digs Disney (1957) * Stanley Clarke – Jazz in the Garden * Miles Davis – Someday My Prince Will Come (1961) * Bill Evans – Portrait in Jazz (1959) * Herbie Hancock – The Piano (1978) * Oscar Peterson and Milt Jackson – Reunion Blues (1971) * Enrico Pieranunzi – Live in Paris (2001) Pop covers *Ayumi Hamasaki – in 2002 as "Someday My Prince Will Come". Never for sale,"Snow White" the song was used by Disney in a promotional video for the re-release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in Japan.Ayu-Vogue.net - a tribute to Ayumi Hamasaki See also *List of 1930s jazz standards References External links * (on Disney's official channel) * http://mcir.usc.edu/cases/1940-1949/Pages/allenwaltdisney.html - 1941 plagiarism case Category:1930s jazz standards Category:1937 songs Category:2002 singles Category:Compositions in G major Category:Jazz compositions in G major Category:Love themes Category:Music published by Bourne Co. Music Publishers Category:Pop ballads Category:Songs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Category:Songs with lyrics by Larry Morey Category:Songs with music by Frank Churchill